Goodbye my brave and handsome hero
by mama rocks
Summary: After Tommy is sent back to 1918 how do the Torchwood team console Toshiko. Tosh/Owen and Jack/Ianto. Oneshot.


Jack watched on the external CCTV monitors as Toshiko walked away from Owen. Owen had followed to try to talk, try to offer some sympathy, but Toshiko was too raw to listen.

Ianto bought him a coffee and looked down at the monitor.

'Do you think she will be ok?' Jack asked.

'I'll go to her later' stated Ianto.

Jack looked at him in surprise.

'Will she talk to you?' he asked.

'Yes' said Ianto simply.

'How will you know where to find her?' asked Jack.

'I'll know' answered Ianto and walked away to take a drink to Gwen.

Owen returned to the hub, looked around at them all and loped away to his own domain.

'Thanks Ianto' said Gwen as she took the proffered drink, 'shitty day eh?'

'Yes' answered Ianto 'although the world was saved by a good looking man....maybe it was just another day at Torchwood.'

He smiled as Gwen looked up at him and grinned.

Ianto chanced taking a drink down to Owen in the medical centre. He watched the medic for a moment. Owen's usual emotions included anger, annoyance and lust, but rarely had Ianto seen him genuinely upset on behalf of someone else.

He pondered Owen's feelings for Toshiko, maybe he was beginning to see what she could offer him. Ianto breathed deeply and offered up a small prayer that Toshiko would not be hurt further.

He moved to join Owen and offered the coffee he had made for him.

'Thanks' said Owen.

'She wouldn't be consoled?' asked Ianto.

'No' answered Owen, 'it's too raw, she needs time to grieve.'

Ianto looked at him considering his next comment before making it.

'Don't hurt her more Owen...please' he begged.

Owen slammed his cup to the desk, and turned on Ianto. But as he looked at the young Welshman the fight went out of him, there was no confrontation in Ianto's face, no aggression, and Owen was suddenly aware of the amount of pain the other man had experienced over his time at Torchwood.

'I won't Ianto....promise...for what it's worth' he said.

Ianto gave a slight nod of his head in acknowledgement and left the doctor to his thoughts. As he returned Gwen was packing up to go home, texting to Rhys that she would be home early for a change.

'Bye all, see you tomorrow' she called.

As she passed Ianto she touched his arm.

'Do you think Tosh will be ok? Should I go to see her?' she asked.

'No Gwen, go home. We'll sort it' Ianto assured her.

Gwen wasn't sure who 'we' referred too, but she nodded and turned her attention to her own domestic concerns.

Ianto had things to file in the archives. Toshiko had packed Tommy's few belongings but had left them for Ianto to file, she knew he would treat them with respect. Ianto and Toshiko understood each other.

Alone in the archives Ianto took stock of the day. He had liked Tommy. For a first world war soldier Tommy had taken to 21st century life with surprisingly little difficulty. He had suffered the indignity of being frozen and woken up for years, and eventually he had sacrificed his life. Ianto sighed, one more tragedy marked up to Torchwood.

'You ok?' Jack had arrived whilst Ianto was wrapped up in his own thoughts.

'Just packing away Tommy's things' replied Ianto.

'I know what you're doing' said Jack 'I asked if you were ok?'

He moved closer to Ianto and took him in his arms, holding him close. Ianto leant into the embrace, sliding his arms around Jack's waist.

'Everybody gets hurt here' he whispered.

'I know' said Jack 'it's hard...we have to help each other pick up the pieces...we need to help Tosh.'

'I'm finished here, I'll go and find her...she may be ready to talk now' said Ianto.

'How come you know where to find her' asked Jack curiously.

Ianto looked at him.

'Tosh and I are friends, we spend a lot of time together...we like each other' he explained.

Surprise showed on Jack's face, he did not like not knowing these things about his team, and especially about Ianto.

'It's not secret Jack....nobody here knows...but only because none of you look at us' continued Ianto.

Jack raised a quizzical eyebrow.

'Gwen is wrapped up in her wedding plans, Owen rarely sees anything not related to Owen and you...well you don't really see me do you? You see what you want from me...what you need from me...but you don't often see me' he finished quietly.

Jack thought about this and was saddened by its truth.

'I'm trying to see you Ianto' he whispered 'but you still hide so much'

They looked into each other's eyes, seeing new truths and new levels of awareness.

'Perhaps we could both try harder' said Jack.

They kissed softly, a promise to see more. Ianto left to find Toshiko.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto stopped and watched Toshiko for a moment wrapped in a world of pain. He had found her, as he knew he would, in the park near her flat, on the bench where she always went to think. Every muscle in her body looked tense even from this distance and Ianto knew she was not seeing anything except her own thoughts.

He walked up to the bench and sat beside her. She didn't look at him or acknowledge his presence. Ianto did not speak for a few minutes, but then gently said.

'When Lisa was taken from me I thought I would not live through the pain. All the plans we had made were taken with her, the future I thought we would have, the time I thought we would have.'

Ianto remained silent for a moment and still did not look at Toshiko. He knew not to talk to her of her own pain, she was not ready for that, but maybe if he told her of his pain she would know she was not alone.

'I had the shame as well' he admitted. 'I had hidden her, put other people at risk, put you at risk' he whispered.

Toshiko turned to look at him, tears in her eyes.

'There is no shame in love Ianto' she said. 'We've all forgiven you because we know it was done for love. You love so completely Ianto...........Jack is a lucky man' she continued.

Ianto smiled at her, he had made her think of something other than Tommy, it was a good start.

'Owen will be lucky too......when he eventually opens his eyes and sees you' he said.

Toshiko nodded slightly as she looked at Ianto and moved closer to him. He opened his arms and she fell into them with a sob, letting out all the grief contained within her small frame. Ianto held her until she stopped shaking, then kissed her forehead and whispered.

'Let's go home?'

Toshiko nodded wiping her eyes and they left the bench and walked hand in hand to her flat.

Ianto opened the wine he found in Toshiko's fridge and poured them both a drink, he raised his glass.

'To Tommy...a hero' he announced and they clinked glasses.

'Thank you Ianto...for being here....and for knowing what I needed' she said.

They relaxed into a companionable silence that was interrupted by a violent ringing on the doorbell. Ianto and Toshiko looked at each other.

'Jack!' they laughed.

Ianto opened the door and Jack breezed into the flat, a bottle of wine in each hand.

'Tosh?' he stumbled.

'It's ok Jack, I'm ready for company, take my mind off things' she hugged him 'you made me do the right thing.'

When Owen arrived an hour later they were all three a little giggly. He had also bought wine and Toshiko laughed as she took it.

'This is turning into a party.'

Jack and Ianto were snuggled up together on Toshiko's sofa. Jack had his arm around Ianto pulling the younger man close and Ianto's hand was on Jack's thigh. Owen looked at them and rolled his eyes.

'Exactly what sort of party is this?' he asked sitting in the only armchair as Toshiko gave him a glass of wine.

'Oh lighten up Owen, we're celebrating love and sacrifice' said a slightly hysterical Toshiko, sitting on the arm of Owen's chair.

'Fair enough' said Owen decidedly.

If Toshiko was less unhappy than earlier then he was willing to go along with whatever was having that effect, downing his drink and holding out his glass for another.

An hour later they were all giggling and reminiscing about earlier times. About the time Owen had a terrible hangover and Jack asked him to review an earlier autopsy. Making him get out old specimens and dissect them. Owen had spent several hours cutting up bits of alien and leaving the autopsy room at speed to be violently sick.

'That taught you not to drink to excess' said Jack, 'especially when I got Ianto to order in Indian food and wafted the smell down to you.'

'Yes, but it only lasted about a week' added Toshiko.

'I still can't face curry though' moaned Owen going slightly green.

'What about the time Ianto had to spend all day in nothing but a pair of jogging pants after Owen threw Chinese food over him during one of their bickering sessions' laughed Toshiko.

'The pants were too big and sat very low on his hips, all his muscles staring at me all day, verrrry hot!' declared Jack.

'And there were more clothes in Jacks's office, he just refused to let us tell you about them' said Owen as he rolled his eyes again.

'Really?' asked Ianto in annoyance.

'Yes...but you looked sooo hot' declared Jack hugging Ianto to him and kissing him on the lips.

'Oh young love' laughed Toshiko, falling from the arm of the chair into Owen's lap.

She tried to struggle up looking apologetically at him, but he pulled her to him and held her in a close embrace.

Jack and Ianto were still kissing on the sofa, getting a little heated and uncomfortably aware that they were not alone.

'Hey you two get a room' yelled Owen.

Jack and Ianto broke apart.

'Sorry Tosh' said Ianto a little shamefacedly.

'Don't be Ianto' replied Toshiko more seriously, 'Tommy made his sacrifice so that the world would go on...we would all get to be happy...get to love' she broke down suddenly and sobbed.

Owen hugged her tighter and murmured soft comforting words that the others could not hear. Toshiko turned into Owen's embrace and allowed herself to be comforted by his closeness.

Ianto got up from his seat and pulled Jack to his feet.

'Time we left' he said.

Toshiko was quiet now in Owen's arms, apparently asleep, Jack held Owen tightly by the shoulder as they passed and whispered.

'She is upset, drunk and hurting.....just don't ok?'

Ianto touched Jack's arm.

'Leave it Jack, Owen isn't that much of a bastard.'

Owen looked at Ianto in surprise and nodded to both of them as they left Toshiko's flat. He knew it would be Ianto's confidence in him, and not Jack's warning, that would prevent him from taking advantage of Toshiko's vulnerable state.

He had a suspicion that Ianto had known how it would work on him. Ianto was very astute, so apparently calm yet they had all seen the mass of seething passion he had buried within him, no wonder Jack was fascinated with the young man.

Ianto seemed to understand them all, always knew what to say. Owen found it a bit creepy, someone seeing all the emotion he wanted to hide. But Ianto's saving grace was that he cared so deeply for everyone. He also never talked, anything he knew about you he kept to himself.

Owen looked at Toshiko in his arms and kissed her head. She was also someone who cared deeply. It would be very comforting to have that care focussed on himself, but maybe a little suffocating.

He felt himself being pulled towards Toshiko lately and was fighting his desire for her because he knew it would be a demanding relationship and he wasn't sure if he was ready.

He stood, lifting Toshiko easily and walked to her bedroom, placing her carefully under the covers of her bed. She stirred as he lay her down.

'Owen, please don't go...stay with me' she mumbled.

Owen felt his heart tugged, took off his jeans and shoes and crept under the covers with her. She nestled back into his arms and wrapped herself around him. Owen sighed, this was going to test his strength.

He knew it would only be the Welshman's confident words that got him and Toshiko through the night unscathed.


End file.
